Hull relegated from the Premier League as they crash to defeat at Crystal Palace
Tigers join Sunderland and Middlesbrough in Championship with Palace and Swansea surviving in the top flight
HULL have been relegated from the Premier League after they crashed to a 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.
Marco Silva's side needed to beat their relegation rivals at Selhurst Park to have any realistic chance of staying in the top flight.
But they suffered a nightmare in the south London sunshine as they fell two goals down before half-time, and two more late goals just added to the pain.
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It means Hull join Middlesbrough and Sunderland in tumbling down to the Championship as they were made to pay for a woeful opening half of the season.
The Tigers came into the campaign in a shambolic state as a pre-season takeover never materialised which left the team desperately trying to play catch-up in building a squad.
Mike Phelan was sacked in January after going two months without a win with the club rooted to the bottom of the table.
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Silva led the club to five league wins and at the start of April it looked as though Hull could achieve the most unlikely of escapes as they climbed out of the bottom three.
But just when they needed to hold their nerve, Hull cracked under press as they took just four points from their next five games to leave their survival hopes hanging by a thread.
That included a damaging 2-0 home to defeat to an already-relegated Sunderland which handed the initiative to Swansea.
And that defeat ultimately proved decisive for Hull as they were unable to raise themselves for the must-win game at Palace which sealed their fate.
Speaking after the game, Hull City boss Marco Silva: "Today we came here to play one final and we started in a bad way. It gave Palace what they wanted for the match. They knew what was in it for them.
"We tried but conceded again and it finished the game. We tried to make changes at half-time for a small reaction. Possession is not enough. You have to take the right decisions. At this level it makes a difference.
"When the club came to me, we knew we were taking on a big risk. But we had one target, to stay in the Premier League. We did our best to improve the boys in the team and that was our job."